LOVE

James Potter boarded the Hogwarts Express. Five minutes later he was in love. He knew it was love because it swept over him like a wave, like an actual, physical force, tangling through his hair and twisting around his ankles.

And then he fell over.

But that was okay, because he scrambled to his feet in time to catch a glimpse of her red hair disappearing into a compartment nearby. He stumbled in after her.

Besides James and the red-haired girl, his love, there were two other people in the compartment. One, a tallish boy with greasy black hair down to his shoulders, was already helping the girl stow her trunk as he greeted her like an old friend. Git. Never mind, James would help her take down her trunk when they arrived.

"Hi, I'm James," he said, grinning somewhat foolishly.

She spun around, and her hair spun around with her in a glorious wave. "Oh, hello. I'm Lily, and this is Severus."

Lily.

No one mentioned the silent, mousy boy in the corner, and he did not introduce himself.

There was a moment of awkward silence as James stared at Lily and Severus, looking somewhat put out, stared at James.

"Erm… well, I'll be back in a minute," said Lily, and she slipped out, closing the door behind her.

James sighed and fell back onto the seat. "I love that girl. Lily." It felt good to say it, like sunshine.

"You – what?" Severus the Git was looking horrified. "You love her? You love Lily? No. No you don't."

"Oh no, I do," James assured him. "I mean, I didn't a minute ago, I only just saw her when I got on the train – followed her into this compartment – she has beautiful hair, doesn't she?"

"Yeah…" said Severus softly. Then he shook his head slightly and glared at James. "You don't love her. You don't even know her! You've barely said two words to each other."

James was undeterred. "Do you know her? Are you friends with her? What's she like?"

For reasons best known to himself, the boy in the corner chose this moment to speak. His voice was high and whiny. "Severus knows Lily! He's known her for months! He lives by her. He told me! He said that he –"

"Shut up!" growled Severus.

James, who had not noticed the mousy boy before he spoke, was staring at him in astonishment. "Who are you?"

The boy sniffed. "Peter Pettigrew. He's going to hit you."

"Wha –"

And then James fell down for the second time, because Severus hit him.